Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary
The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.' It is 'antiracist.' What's the difference?
One endorses either the idea of a racial hierarchy as a racist, or racial equality as an antiracist. One either believes problems are rooted in groups of people, as a racist, or locates the roots of problems in power and policies, as an antiracist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist, or confronts racial inequities, as an antiracist. There is no in-between safe space of 'not racist.’
Ibram X. Kendi, How to Be an Antiracist
The Klau Institute for Civil and Human Rights presents Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary, a lecture series and associated course presenting preeminent scholars, thought leaders, and public intellectuals to guide our community through topics necessary to an understanding of systemic racism and racial justice. The series is self-consciously an entry point, designed to provide intellectual and moral building blocks to begin the transformative work of anti-racism in our students, on our campus, and in our broader communities.
Watch videos of past speakers here
For students
Building an Anti-Racist Vocabulary is available as either a one-credit or three-credit course for Notre Dame students. The presentations will be offered via Zoom for all participants, with an additional in-classroom component for the three-credit course. Students who do not register for the class are welcome and encouraged to join individual lectures as noted below.
Course registration information here
For the Notre Dame community
Each session in the series will be synchronously available, via Zoom, to any member of the Notre Dame community—students, staff, faculty, or alumni. Join us for the whole series, or even just one lecture.
You must register to attend any part of the series. Registration provides access to all of the lectures, but you may choose which lectures to attend. We recommend early registration, as space is limited, but you may do so at any time during the semester. An nd.edu or alumni.nd.edu email address is required. Alumni who wish to obtain an alumni.nd.edu email address may do so at the Notre Dame Alumni Association, here.
Please note that attendance is limited for each lecture in the series. We invite you to register, but cannot guarantee that all registrants will be able to attend every session.
For the public
Video recordings and suggested readings from many lectures will be available as the series unfolds. Check here for the latest uploads.
Watch videos of past speakers here
Guest Experts Fall 2022
Friday, September 2
The White Power Movement
Kathleen Belew
Associate Professor of History, Northwestern University and author of Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America
Friday, September 9
Systemic Injustice
Esau McCaulley
Associate Professor of New Testament, Wheaton College and author of Reading While Black: African American Biblical Interpretation as an Exercise in Hope
Friday, September 16
University Research on Racism
Kirt von Daacke
Assistant Dean and Professor of History, University of Virginia
Friday, September 23
Race and the Media
Eric Deggans
TV critic for National Public Radio and author of Race-Baiter: How the Media Wields Dangerous Words to Divide a Nation
Friday, September 30
Leading Change Around DEI
Alvin Tillery
Associate Professor of Political Science, Northwestern University
Friday, October 7
Greening the Church
Rev. Ambrose Carroll
Founder of Green the Church
Friday, October 14
The CROWN Act
Wendy Greene
Director of the Center for Law, Policy, and Social Action, and Professor of Law, Thomas R. Kline Law School, Drexel University
Friday, October 28
Voting Rights
Rick Hasen
Chancellor's Professor of Law and Political Science, University of California Irvine School of Law
Friday, November 4
Birth Equity
Joia Crear-Perry, MD
Founder and President, National Birth Equity Collaborative
Friday, November 11
Social Inequality and Public Schools
Eve L. Ewing
Associate Professor, Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity, University of Chicago and author of Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side
Friday, November 18
Canadian Truth and Reconciliation
Stephanie Scott
Executive Director, National Centre for Truth and Reconciliation
Friday, December 2
Haiti's Double Debt
Catherine Porter
Canada Bureau Chief, The New York Times